Travel expert Sarah Dandashy gives her tips on how to cruise like a pro. 

<div class="block">Travel expert Sarah Dandashy gives her tips on how to cruise like a pro. </div>
<div class="block">
</div>

Cheddar Vacation: Insider Tips for Going on a Cruise Like a Pro 

Summer is here, vacation time for many families around the country. So all season long wake up will help you get the best value for your dollar Americans love to cruise. But before you hit the high seas, our travel expert and author Sarah, she is here to share all the secrets to get you cruising like a pro Sarah. Welcome. Thanks for having me. So let's talk about those first timers interested in cruising. What do they need to know? Ok. So here's the thing cruising. There's, there's an option for everyone. You've got big cruises, small cruises, something for a only themed cruises, you know. Um But if somebody hasn't been on a cruise before I get it, they, they're worried that it's like, oh my gosh, am I going to feel confined? I say start off simple, do a easy three day cruise to kind of test the waters pun intended. Um Because again, there really is something for everyone and they're really perfect for multigenerational travels. Well, too. So if you want to really travel with the entire family, they're a great option for that. And a lot of people tend to think of cruise ships as these giant floating cities. But to your point, there are a lot of options and rangers out there, there are, there are and, and don't get me wrong. There's so many wonderful, really large ships and some of the largest ships in the world are just coming out now and they've got so many activities, but I would say don't sleep on the smaller cruise ships. Um, and actually take a look at those. I actually got to go on one in Alaska. And what was really lovely is that because it was such a small ship? And I'm talking about small, like it had 58 passengers versus 5000 passengers. So very big difference. But we were able to go places that the largest ship couldn't go and we were able to interact with the landscape and it really made sense for that. So again, considering your destinations and where you wanna go, there are a lot of different ship types. Let's go back to those big ships. I've seen some with roller coasters on board. There's so many activities. Tell me about that. There are, I actually was just on a cruise uh this past weekend and you could actually get tattoos on board. Actual tattoos. Yes, you could get actual tattoos. I didn't come away with any. So I didn't have enough, enough drinks, that's for sure. That was my next question. Yeah. So um but yeah, so you've got these big cruises they have a lot of activities. Now, a couple of things to keep in mind, we are seeing a little bit more of these cruises now charging for some of these extra activities. Uh So you do want to keep that in mind when you are booking. But again, there is something for everyone from Go Kart to roller coasters and then all these different rooms and, and events that are happening. Any insider tips if you want to save money when you're booking a cruise. Definitely. So book with a travel advisor and I know this might even seem counter intuitive, but a lot of travel advisors get perks. So if they are booking it for you, it costs the same if you book it on your own. But next thing you know, you have an extra $200 in our on board credit or they might even get a little bit of a discount or you get upgraded to a nicer, a nicer suite. So again, don't, don't miss out on that. And then also if you really love your cruise, book your next cruise while you're on the cruise, yes, because they, they wanna get you while you're in the fields of it and you can even get something like 10% off for example of booking future cruises ahead of time and also go ahead and snag those uh all inclusive packages before you get on. Ok? I have about a minute. Any other cruising industry secrets we should know about. Ok, if you really, when cruises are the most expensive when school is out, makes sense. So try and book your cruises to the not popular times. Also, repositioning cruises are really interesting. So, repositioning means that they start at one point and then they end someplace else because they are repositioning the ship. Now, these tend to be a little bit less expensive because not necessarily everybody wants to fly home from a different airport or if they drove there. So take a look at those repositioning cruises because you can explore so much more and uh save a few dollars too. Uh Here's the saving money back, travel expert, Sarah. Thank you so much for having.